i like this letter in todays “age” newspaper:

“The banks run our finances. They run the government. Now they want to run their own royal commission, via their major Canberra branch, the Liberal Party.”

sums it up nicely don't you think?

another good article on our rotten banks .....

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/theres-something-seriously-rotten-at-the-core-of-australian-banking-20171201-gzwlkt.html

Did the Unions get to sit down with the government and discuss how their Royal Commission should be managed?  I can sense a faint smell in the air and by the end of this process it will be a stench.

Maybe the banks want this now because they will be able to manipulate the process and the outcome.  Something that would not be so easy under another government.

Many of the concerns people have about our banks have only just surfaced since the Keating era. So what happened during Keatings reign, apart from the four pillars policy. Well, let me be frank, Insurance companies were demutualised and allowed to merge with banks in an all finance structure, which was copied from other countries. This change provided the catalyst for our current situation. This is what gave us the Storm business, the gaoling of a union boss, Cominsure's refusal to pay claims etc etc.. 

Do I agree with a banking Royal Commission? I dont know? Much depends on the terms of reference and what is hoped to be acheived. I do know that we need a strong banking sector which gives people confidence. We certainly dont need a RC just to rip bark off them and confirm what the left side of politics has been preaching to their desciples. If there is an outcome it should be found in a strong recomendation for the banks to offload their non banking business and develope a new culture for the times. Different from the old one and much different from this Keating introduced one. 

There are two issues I see as a problem with Malcolm's Commission you have when you're not having a commission.

One thing it doesn't address is that it won't look into the ridiculous fees and Bonuses at all coasts for Senior Management. They do this through a process of focussing on "the share price at all costs " and not on the culture of job cuts; service cuts; and failing to provide reasonable management. This has led to indefensible things like the Credit Card Rates; booming fees and charges; Comminsure and other bank insurance staff automatically rejecting 80% of claims on the basis that less than 40% will appeal.

The second thing is that it will also attack a sector that is being extremely succesful for it's clients. The  Industry Superannuation schemes are making up to double the returns of others in the sector and manage a large part of the sector. Banks have been pushing the Government to give them a significant amount of this sector and to get rid  of employee representatives on the Board. They want their sticky fingers in the pie to reduce the retirement savings of many of today's workers. This is beyond the pale and must be fought on all fronts.

But they have released the draft terms of reference … links and excerpts below if anyone’s interested.

ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND
FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

DRAFT TERMS OF REFERENCE

Excerpts:

Source.

Sorry about the poor reproduction but to paste it all as text would have been overly long IMO. See source link directly above for full details.

This Royal Commission will be very interesting

The powers of a royal commission are heavy. It is like a police investigation and a court combined in one. They can issue search warrants. They can subpoena documents. They can arrest you if you fail to show up. When you do show up, they can compel you to answer questions and put you in jail for six months if you don’t.

And in Australia, you can’t claim the fifth amendment.

I really do t see what the RC will achieve 

unless the banks are engaging in criminal activity or breaking corporation laws 

waste of time and all as a result of political games being played by labor and greens 

Ian Verrender writes

………But the overwhelming reason for an inquiry rests on just one principle — accountability.

What has been forgotten in the endless round of scandals in recent years is that the Australian banking sector is a taxpayer subsidised industry.

It's an industry that pays ridiculously bloated salaries to its leaders; that showers itself with massive bonus payments when profits are soaring but instantly demands taxpayer protection and support when the tide turns. More on that later.

Blanket yet to be lifted on real estate

It's become apparent in every area of banking, from financial planning, insurance, small business loans and superannuation. But there is one area where the blanket has yet to be truly lifted.

It is on the biggest earnings' driver for our banks — real estate. Consider these sobering facts.

Australian capital city real estate is among the world's most expensive and least affordable

Australian household debt is among the highest in the world

The big four banks hold 80 per cent of all Australian mortgages, worth about $1.4 trillion

Real estate accounts for about 60 per cent of their loan books

Real estate has turned our banks into global money-making machines, delivering returns institutions elsewhere look upon with envy.

So, it's not too big a stretch to question — given their unconscionable behaviour in other areas — whether lending standards over property have been undermined by the insatiable demand for earnings during the property boom of the past five years.

Stories about forged loan documentation, with borrowers urged to inflate incomes, have been rife for years.

No-one, however, knows the true extent of the problem. To a large extent, no-one really wants to know.

Ian Verrender

Ian Verrender is the ABC's business editor. A journalist for more than 30 years, Verrender spent 25 years at The Sydney Morning Herald in a variety of roles including senior writer and business editor. He joined Business Spectator and Eureka Report in 2012 and joined the ABC in 2014.

People have been screaming for a RC, now it's happening they're still screaming. Wait and see what happens, before starting to scream even louder. The worst that can happen is that the banks will laugh all the way to the bank and the best is, we will have a better view of why they're laughing.

Any trolls itching to comment??